The Duke University School of Medicine announced the winners of this year’s SoM Bridge Funding Program grants in September. Among the recipients are three faculty members from the Department of Medicine – Drs. Gowthami Arepally, Jonathan Stiber and Uptal Patel received grants to continue their research and investigative efforts into allergic responses, age-related muscle atrophy and kidney disease management in diabetics.
Duke annually provides both basic science and clinical researchers with a one-time Bridge Fund Grant of up to $100,000 to continue their efforts, usually after a researcher’s attempt to renew NIH or NSF funding has been unsuccessful.
According to reports from The Scientist, as of 2010 the National Institutes of Health only funds 20 percent of the grants they receive applications for each year. With federal budget cuts and a continued recession, analysts estimate funding trends will get worse before they get better.
Gowthami Arepally, MD is an associate professor of medicine (Hematology). Her project, "Pathogenesis and Management of Herapin-Induced Thromboycytopenia (HIT)," continues her investigation into patients with an allergic reaction to herpain, an anticoagulant. The allergic response can cause low platelet counts after exposure.
“We are trying to understand how heparin, a commonly used blood thinner, triggers an allergic response in up to 50 percent (in some clinical settings) of exposed patients,” said Arepally. “Bridge Funding support will be essential for generating data for future grant funding.”
To conduct her research, Arepally is working with Garnett Kelsoe, MD, in the Dept. of Immunology, Greg Sempowski, MD, in the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and Michael Dee Gunn, MD, in the Division of Cardiology. Ultimately, she said, her research will help prevent an allergic response to herpain.
Jon Stiber, MD, assistant professor of medicine (Cardiology), will use his Bridge Funding award to explore the role of scaffolding proteins in sarcopenia, or age-related muscle atrophy.
“Sarcopenia is a major public health concern and contributes to functional disability in the elderly as well as poor outcomes in older patients afflicted with co-morbid conditions,” said Stiber, who will be working with Igor Nepliouev and Zhu-Shan Zhang to complete his research.
“Ultimately, this is the first step towards the eventual development of therapies that target these scaffolding proteins as a means to block the development of sarcopenia.” Stiber said.
Finally, Uptal Patel, MD, assistant professor of medicine (Nephrology), will use his funding to support a pilot of a telehealth program aimed at providing early intervention for diabetics at risk for kidney failure.
“We have developed a cost-effective, evidence-based, telehealth intervention that may fill a void in treatment options,” said Patel. “The Bridge Funding provides generous support to facilitate our ongoing efforts to pilot test our intervention.”
Patel said he will collaborate with Drs. Hayden Bosworth, Laura Svetkey, Rowena Dolor, Huiman Barnhart and Shelby Reed on this project.
The deadline for the next round of Bridge Funding program will be February 28, 2012.